Atomic regulators meet discusses Russian VVER reactors

The 20th meeting of the VVER (Russian atomic reactor) Regulators Forum hosted by India for the first time concluded Friday at Kanyakumari, said a senior Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) official.

The forum was founded in 1993 and consists of atomic regulators from various countries where the Russian designed VVER nuclear reactors operate or are being set up.

India's atomic power company Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is setting up two VVER reactors of 1,000 MW capacity at Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district, around 650 km from here.

The three-day meeting began Dec 11 and concluded Friday.

"Regulators who attended the conference submitted a report on the VVER reactors in their countries. India too submitted its report. The reports are not public. The reports basically deal with policy related aspects," AERB Secretary R. Bhattacharya told IANS over phone from Kanyakumari.

He said the forum also discussed the additional safety measures taken after the nuclear accident that happened in Fukushima in Japan.

The forum was attended by 14 foreign delegates and chaired by AERB Chairman S.S. Bajaj.

The forum consists of nuclear regulatory organisations from Armenia, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Iran, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Ukraine and India.

Speaking about the first unit at Kudankulam that has started power generation, Bhattacharya said the unit is working well.

"There are no reactor safety related issues. There was some issue with the secondary equipment which has been sorted out," Bhattacharya said.

Permission to generate power up to 50 percent (500 MW) of the rated capacity has been given August 2013 which is valid till Jan, 2014.

He said Finland has expressed its wish to host the next meeting of the VVER Regulators Forum and a decision on it will be taken later.